Parliament has two democratically-elected Houses. The House of Commons is the most powerful of Parliament's two houses.
It has 659 members who are elected when the whole nation votes in a general election.

The House of Lords doesn't have much power.
It can delay a bill which the Commons wants to make into law but it can't get rid of it completely.

There are 675 members of the Lords made up of bishops, members of the nobility (hereditary peers) and life peers who've been given a title because of an outstanding achievement.

The Lords talk about proposed laws & act as a final check.

All bills must go through both Houses before they become 'Acts' (laws).

The main political parties are Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. The party which gets the most votes is asked by The Queen to form the next government.

Members of Parliament (MPs) represent everyone in their constituency, even the ones who didn't vote for them.

A general election must be held at least every five years but the Prime Minister can call one whenever she or he likes.

You have to be at least 18 years old to vote.

Some other people aren't allowed to vote such as the mentally ill, criminals and peers (the nobility).

Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, but a 'cabinet' of senior politicians called ministers actually governs the country.

The Queen has the final say on whether a bill becomes law.

Curriculum relevance

Citizenship / KS 2&3

1c. Central and local government
1d. Key characteristics of parliamentary and other forms of government
1e. Electoral system and the importance of voting
1g. Importance of resolving conflict fairly
2a. Topical, political issues, problems and events through analysis of information and its sources, including ICT-based sources
2b. Justify orally and in writing a personal opinion about such issues, problems or events contribute to group and exploratory class discussions, and take part in debates.

The numbers refer to the National Curriculum programme of study for KS3.

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